Lansing - The Lugnuts failed to sweep Burlington on Tuesday, falling to the Bees 5-0 at Oldsmobile Park.
Lansing (28-18 second half, 65-50 overall) ended the home series with a 3-1 record against Burlington (21-23, 54-59).
In the first, second, sixth, seventh and eighth innings the Lugnuts failed to reach base, managing only four hits for the game.
Lugnuts manager Julio Garcia said his team struggled against Burlington right hander Chris Tierney.
Tierney froze the Lansing bats and improved his record to 7-12 with the win. In eight innings, he allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out three.
“Tierney did a great job for them,” Garcia said. “He was keeping the ball down and he had pretty good movement on his fastball.
“He just really kept us at bay.”
In the top of the fourth, Burlington shortstop Donnie Murphy hit a line-drive double that stretched into a triple when Lansing left fielder Aron Weston bobbled the ball.
Bee third baseman Brett Groves drove Murphy in with a single for a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lansing second baseman Joey Monahan reached first on a hard-hit ball up the middle and advanced to second when catcher Paul O’Toole walked. With third baseman Travis Welsch up to bat, Monahan and O’Toole pulled off a double-steal, but the next two Lugnuts were put out to end their best scoring threat.
Bee left fielder Odannis Ayala hit a two-run homer off Lansing southpaw Renyel Pinto in the sixth to make the score 3-0.
Pinto (4-3) took the loss for the Lugnuts. In seven innings he allowed eight hits, two earned runs and one walk while striking out seven.
“I thought I pitched hard today,” Pinto said. “But I just wasn’t able to hit the mitt in the right spots.”
Burlington scored in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from designated hitter Galindo Gomez, then scored again on a single by center fielder James Shanks.
Lansing center fielder Mike Mallory reached third base in the bottom of the ninth, but was stranded when Weston grounded out to end the game.
This is the Bees’ first shutout since June 7, a 4-0 win also against Lansing.
The Lugnuts have today off before beginning a home stand against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (14-29, 44-68). Game one of the four-game series begins 7:05 p.m. Thursday at Oldsmobile Park, 505 E. Michigan Ave.
